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Project management's bottom line

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The way that we work is changing. We are seeing a lot of collaboration and a lot of virtual work forces. We are also seeing pressure to push prices down, and to get more done with less. In this video, Richard Harrington walks through why project management is essential in today’s workforce.

- By now, you probably have a good understandingof some of the soft skills whenit comes to project management.Philosophies to employ,as well as having a good understanding about theproducts that you're going to offerand the people that you're going to be working with.Let's move on and talk about some of the harder concepts.The straight up formal practice of project management.As I promised you at the start of this course,we're going to try to keep things very straight forward.So, while I'm going to use business terms,I'm going to try to make sure that they're clearand understandable.

Now, I'm not going to make things any harderthan they need to be, but the formalized practiceof project management does have it's own language.And so what I'm going to try to do here is makethese concepts clear and understandable.I promise you that there's no management jargon here,just for the sake of jargon.Everything we're going to cover is pretty important.So, the bottom line is this.Project management is a collection of business practicesand it really does work.But you have to realize that youcan't just do a couple of these thingsand expect to see a difference.

For example, you can do all sorts of changesto tracking the time that's being spent,and making sure that you have agreements with your team,but if you don't scope out the projectand give the client a clear, writtendescription of the work to be done,well, then you're going to have nothing to measureagainst when it comes time tomaking adjustments in the bill.If you don't time track, all you've got is instinctto tell you if you've gone over budget.It's important that you try to do all of the thingsthat we've identified here.Some you're going to do well and some will be really painful,and take a lot of getting used to.

But ultimately, all of these things will combineto make the situation better.Keep in mind though, project management is not a fad.This has been around for decades.We mentioned before that the project management institutestarted in the 1960's. This isn't new.It's just starting to get attention though.And this is largely due because ofthe way that work is changing.Thanks to new technologies with the internetand online collaboration, video conferencing,we're seeing a lot more work being done virtually.

People working from different locationsand collaborating internationally.There's also a lot of pressure to push price down.And to get more done, with less resources.Because of this, project management has becomeincreasingly important.As the pace gets faster and faster,project management becomes more and more needed.Your client's expect more done in less time,and a lot of times they have less money to give you.And, the number of people that work in your company,or the number of people that you can hire,is probably going down.

I'm finding that not only are budgets shrinking,but team sizes are shrinking.People are having to be multi-faceted and talented.It means that you have to get more done, with less.Now because of this, this is going to be importantthat you get your arms around itand really control the process.Clients can always find another company willingto do the work for less.It doesn't mean that it's goingto be as good as the work you do,or even get done on time,but it does mean that you might lose the job to a vendorthat's not qualified, but willing to charge less.

What we're getting at here,is that it's important to be smart.And if you apply project management effectively,you should be able to get more things done in less time.If you employ an organized tactical approach,you can thrive in this challenging economy.Now, there are a lot of changes going onin the film, video, and photo industries right now.But, you need to accept that these arepretty much going to happen.We have smaller teams, competition is fiercer.You are competing on a global scale.

And technology keeps making it easierto get the job done with less skill.These days, it's possible to shoota pretty good photo, with a camera out of the box.And there's a whole lot of software that makes iteasy to retouch images.Video cameras are cheaper than ever before,and you can even edit on a tablet.Now, it's not the same as a full blown editing suite,or color grading suite, but the client doesn'tneccesarily know that.Without formalizing your practice of project management,it's going to be very difficult for you to succeed.

These days, a lot of people can hang a shingle outand call themselves a photographer.Same things happens in the video industry all the time.People buy a computer, they buy few pieces of gear,and suddenly, they're a video production company.I'm not saying that you're not valuablebecause of the workforce diminishing.What I am saying here, is that the amount of peoplewho are competing for the jobs just keeps going up.There are all sorts of people drawn tothe creative industries because theythink the jobs are cool or interesting.If you are one of those people,no problem, welcome, just make sure thatyou're charging fairly for your work.

Make sure that you employ good business practicesand that you're getting paid for the work that you're doing.These days when I lose a contract,it's pretty much always about price.The client is feeling pressure or is being requiredby their employer to choose the lowest cost vendor.Now, I hope that things will changeand we'll go back to the best person gets the job,but that's not always the case.What I'm finding, is that I need to be creativeand figure out new ways to tighten up budgets.Fortunately, this is a short term solution.

These people that are underbidding, usually can't last.So what's happening here,is that they're just going to churn through.Eventually, your client will matureand understand that's not good business practice either.But that doesn't help with the short term loss.What's in your best interest is to insteadfigure out how to sharpen the pencil,get the project as tight as possible.Get a fair price, with a clear scope of work.Once you've done this, it will be easy to go backand collect on additional moneywhen the project goes over.

And it will also insure that the clientunderstands how you are a better vendor.When I do get a project,it's not just because our work is good,or because we're creative or we have the best technology.It's because the client has confidencethat we're going to be able to succeedand deliver the project on timeand within their budget.The true bottom line is this,you cannot be too busy to manage a project.If you're too busy to manage a project,you're too busy to make money.You're too busy to have a good night's sleepand you are too busy to be successful.

I'm not saying that you have to get super formal,we're not going to make Gantt charts here.I'm not going to show you how to use any fancy,specialized, project management software.What we are going to do, is take a common sense approach,and some very straight forward tactics to get the job done.I will show you a couple of simple tools that are easyto use online, as well as a couple of documentsthat you can make in Word Processor that willremove the stress in your life.

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Released

3/2/2017

Project management is key to getting any idea from start to finish, but video and photography projects face special challenges that set them apart from traditional business projects. In this course, Rich Harrington introduces the core concepts of effective project management as it relates to work in video production and photography. Learn how to effectively match the services you offer to the project, estimate time, and communicate with clients. Rich shares insights from his many years as a business owner and creative professional.